Each year more than 30,000 students from all over the world come to the United States to spend one year away from home with a different family.

Now you probably want to know why they would leave their friends and family for such a long time.

An exchange year is more than just a year in a different country.

You get the opportunity to meet new and interesting people and learn about one part of the United States.

You also learn how to appreciate people with different customs, ideas, and ways of living together in families and communities.

Another important part is, of course, being able to speak a foreign language fluently.

There are moments as an exchange student where you think that people from a different country behave wrong, and then you realize that there really isn’t any “right or wrong” between cultures — there is only a difference.

But how exactly does the foreign exchange system work?

If you decide to make an exchange year, you first have to pick a country you would like to learn more about.

Zuzana from Slovakia, Ardian from Macedonia and Miriam and Laura (me) from Germany made the decision to spend one year in the United States.

We found an exchange organization that helped us get all the paperwork done (which takes a long time) and finally found a family here in the USA who wanted to welcome us as a part of their family for a whole year.

Another important part of an exchange year is attending a different school.

In this case we were lucky, and four different families in Duvall decided to host one of us for one year, which also means that we are able to go to Cedarcrest for this time.

Maybe you have already talked to one of us. But if you haven’t and you want to know what Christmas is like in Germany, if there are cars in Slovakia or what the schools are like in Macedonia, you can feel free to ask because that’s one reason why we are here.

Of course, we are also here to experience how the American school system works and go to football games and cheer for our Red Wolves.

To us Cedarcrest is an awesome school with a big school spirit, and it is fun to be part of it.

A big “thank you” from us to all CHS students and teachers for welcoming us and helping us find our way around.